User:Espen/gra6825

GRA6825 running assignment, due November, 2008

This assignment is intended to teach you something about social software (slightly different from collaborative software) - and what better way than to participate in the largest social software project of them all? Wikipedia is an on-line encyclopedia, written collaboratively (that is, by the readers). It uses wiki technology, and everybody can update everything. Order is maintained by common goals and common behavioral norms.

Assignment: (Be advised that this assignment takes time - especially getting used to the Wikipedia format and culture - so a good idea is to start early and work on it intermittently but consistently.)


 * 1) Register yourself as a user, read some of the documentation about what Wikipedia is and how it is to be used. You will find links to this on the Main Page. Remember: Wikipedia is, if anything, a community with its own rules and norms, which you should know before you enter.
 * 2) While logged in (if you don't log in, I can't see what you have done and thus not evaluate your activity), start editing and writing articles – anything you do will be tracked and the versions saved.  Write on whatever you want, but make sure that you follow the intention of the Wikipedia. Incidentally, did I mention that it is a good idea to remember to log in? Otherwise your edits will be anonymous, which may be good for the Wikipedia but not so good for you....
 * 3) Go to this page and add yourself to the list of students, making sure you use the correct format.  (The intent here is that I should be able to click on each student, and then see what articles the student has worked on.)
 * 4) Write me a memo (in Blackboard), marked with both your name and your Wikipedia user name.  For a total of less than 500 words, answer these questions:
 * 5) What, if anything, surprised you the most about the Wikipedia?
 * 6) What uses can you see for this technology in a corporate setting?  What does it take for it to be successful?
 * 7) For which kind of businesses and technologies can Wikis be a disruptive technology?

Good luck, and welcome to the ‘pedia!

Espen